What do you think of jeans + pumps? ETA: too young or "sexy"? - YouLookFab Forum

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What do you think of jeans + pumps? ETA: too young or "sexy"?

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

This look is all over the blogosphere. The jeans are either skinny or boyfriend. The footwear is dressy, either a strappy heel or a low vamp pump. Heels are at least 3" usually higher.

The first 4 are looks I pinned over the past several months. The last 4 are ones I grabbed today off Pinterest. A good half of the street style pins had some form of this look.

ETA: I would be most interested if you all think this is a young look. Is it too young and sexy for someone my age. Thanks!

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55 replies

Latest reply was from bj1111

Suz

(website)

Veteran

My honest opinion?

It is a classic look, right?

And I want to love it.

But whenever I try it myself, I feel like....a tramp.

It just does not feel right on me. At ALL.

Or...allow me to qualify. It doesn't feel right if the pumps have high heels. If you bring it down to a kitten heel height, I kinda like it. Or if you make it a wedge heel, ditto.

So I like it better in theory than in practice, but I think it looks good on women with long, very slim legs. The exact same kind who don't NEED to wear high heels with their jeans!

ETA: Another thing that bugs me, I see this look on bloggers NOW, who live in Northern climes. And while I agree our weather has been unpredictable and very strange, the idea of bare feet in shoes at -10 just does not make sense to me and feels seasonally confused and I have a huge poison eye for that.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Suz -- I hear you on the seasonally confused thing. I saw this yesterday.
http://www.afterdrk.com/

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Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

This is a very Emmanuel Alt (EA) look - and I like her version best. No platform, pointy toes, less than three inches. More relaxed yet just as chic.

I am doing my version with 1.5 inches for Spring & Summer.

Suz, I don't get the sockless look for freezing temperatures either.

Anonymous

That look is pretty standard around here. I am actually kind of dumbfounded as to why this is becoming a blogosphere fave. To me, that equates to seeing riding boots tucked in to skinny jeans as "fresh".

The heel plus jeans combo is one sure way to dress up a pair of jeans. You see it here in all sorts on environments, including corporate casual Fridays.

In your clime, this would be a year round look for me.

Big thumbs up in my book.

I just don't like it when it is really cold, So I'm in Suz's camp.

deb

Veteran

I used to wear this look in the 90's but I always added a blazer. Oh and the 70's we pegged the legs of our jeans and wore Candies. clomp, clomp, clomp

stitchywitch

(website)

I wear this all the time - I'm a pear, and I need the leg lengthening when I wear skinny jeans or boyfriends. I wear shorter heels though - I don't think I own any that high! I especially like a shoe with a mary jane strap and a rounded toe - it makes the look a little less aggressive to my eye, and I find pointy toes hard to wear anyway. But I do like it!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Phew - glad I am not alone! That's exactly what I meant, Denise. Brrrr!!!

Angie, I agree, if it were 1.5 inches - no problem. And I prefer the classic, pointy toed, no platform shoes as well. I could (and I hope WILL) wear something like that. I like it better with the slimmer jean in most of the examples, though. Not sure how i feel about it with the BFs. In most cases the proportion looks a bit odd to me. But then again many of those are the platforms. Which makes sense, in a way (you would think it would work to balance the volume) but for some reason it looks wonky to me.

cciele

Veteran

I remember when it was considered a bit trashy to wear tight jeans and pumps. When was that -- the 80s with the acid wash? Anyhow, I'm personally avoiding this look, except for rolled up boyfriends and monster wedges. But, like Angie, I like how EA pulls off the tight pants + heels look.

Anonymous

I like platform shoes... I hope I'm not being seen as trashy... oh, that's awful;(

carolbee

Veteran

Doesn't appeal to me, maybe cos I would never wear it.

MsMary

Veteran

I always thought of this as a bit trashy, too, but I have come around and wear pumps and other heels with jeans all.the.time. now. I'm in sunny So Cal so the sockless aspect isn't really an issue.

I'm not all that wild about the pointy toes on the pumps, though. I loved the rounded toes way better.

jayne

Veteran

I agree whole heartedly with Suz and cceile. I see it, I see how it brings jeans to another level, but in my gut, it feels trashy...is there something from our collective past that makes us think this? I see Zapp who lives in NYC doesn't have that negative association...I am in a child of the 70's, and teen in the 80's. Any thoughts?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Zap - you could NEVER look trashy! You are a lady through and through!!

No, I mean I FEEL as if I look trashy, or I feel self-conscious, if I wear a high heel with (esp. skinny legging style) jeans. It's partly (or largely) the shape of my own legs, I think, and the proportions. There may also be associations from my past, but if so, they're not terribly strong. It just feels wrong on me.

Anonymous

Actually, I've never heard of jeans and pumps as trashy, at all! What are you supposed to wear with jeans, flats then? Lots of women wear heels with denim here, especially in the warmer months. Ummm... Interesting. As a side note, guys, I'm hispanic, we like sexy no problem;)

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Zap -- you are so funny. It could be that finally *I* am noticing this look and thinking of trying it. I would like to find heels that are 2.5-3", pointy toed, with a strappy back so I can adjust the heel. Pumps fall off my feet.

Angie -- I did not make that immediate EA connection but of course you are right. Could it be she popularized the look?

Deb and Cathy -- yes I remember when this was considered a trashy look. There was also a time when OTK boots were considered if not downright hooker style, at least very Outer Borroughs / Bridge and Tunnel. (80s and 90s)

Stitchywitch I like your idea!

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Suz

(website)

Veteran

People wear it here, too....well, in Toronto. In Kingston, not so much.

And truthfully...we sort of go from bootie/ boot season to sandal season pretty fast around here. At which point jeans become too hot to wear. So the times for wearing it are few.

I'm not saying it's inherently trashy. I'm just saying this is how I feel when I try to wear it. But again, I think it's about my own body insecurities or perceptions of the proportions on me, personally.

MsMary

Veteran

Denise, beware of sling backs with pants. I've had trouble with the hem of the pants wanting to migrate between the heel of my foot and the heel of my shoe.

Anonymous

oh yea, sling backs with pants equals hell and you are so right Suz, My time in pumps is quite limited too. I stopped buying them for that reason.

It is funny but my feet are so weather sensitive. They are the first thing to get uncovered in summer and covered in winter (;

rae

(website)

Veteran

I'm with Zap and thought it was a pretty classic/standard look. I do like it, though it is not much help to me since my toes tend to get crunched in pumps and I've yet to find ones that can handle my stompy gait without killing my feet. I would need a platform and thick ankle strap, I think. It wouldn't look as euro-chic at all.

cciele

Veteran

A clip from the LA Times:

Now, It's Cool to Be Well-Heeled
The Spring Collections / Paris
October 19, 1995|MIMI AVINS

PARIS — When was the exact moment that wearing heels with pants stopped being tacky and became chic? A long time ago, New Yorkers snickered at Los Angeles as that place where women wore jeans and pumps. Then, the right look, the cool look, worn by women boldly striding into the working world was a masterful pantsuit and flats. So many places to go, things to do. Who had time to mince around in heels? Now, every New York fashion writer is trolling Paris in her Manolo Blahnik Sabrina-inspired pumps, even with pants. Stockings are as taboo as they were when Don Johnson was sockless in Miami. On the catwalks, pants are usually shown with heels--often very high ones. And they only look cheesy sometimes. The rest of the time they look pretty sexy.

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

I love this look, and I remember it from the eighties ( how fab I felt in a white button down, Levi's 501, a cobalt belt and cobalt pumps), and I believe that looking trampish has way more to do with how it is styled than the jeans+pump combo. I prefer rounded toes on my shoes and don't see that changing. A three inch heel is max for me, and I would wear pumps with both skinnies and straights. I prefer a looser top to avoid feeling too body con.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

OK I guess this look is way more mainstream than I realized. Humor me, I live near much granite and livestock; people, not so many.

It just doesn't seem like I've seen as much of it here on YLF.

I do think it is a "sexy" look, even with boyfriend jeans.

Marley

Veteran

I like the look - but, its been around here for years, so I don't think of it as anything new or different. For myself, I can't wear the really high-heels, because they hurt my feet - but I've got pumps in the 21/2 inch range that I wear with jeans quite a bit - year round because it doesn't ever get that cold here.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

The look is not new but there has been a shift from wearing heels in the evening to dress up jeans to wearing jeans in the daytime to dress down the heels. Does that make sense?

I don't think the look is young or trashy but it is not practical for my day to day life.

Sylvie

Veteran

I read it as "trendy". It's not the most practical attire due to the heel height. But it doesn't read as trashy, young or sexy to me - at least not without considering the rest of the outfit.

Hmm, I'm going out tomorrow night - I would try this look if it wasn't so darn impractical for you know, actual walking.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Like every other look (well nearly) if it's done well & on the right person I love it.
I love the look of heels & slim ankle-length pants or jeans with a jacket; but as I don't wear heels on a regular basis this is an evening/dressy look for me. There is something about the androgynous play of heels & pants that gets me every time.

Hil

(website)

Veteran

I like the look, and I also think it's quite classic - but I can't see myself traising around during the day wearing ridiculously high heels. Definitely something I would do for date night though

As for the OTK boots - I also used to think those were considered trashy - they were SO Pretty Woman!!!

Scarlet

Veteran

I like it, if it's seasonally appropriate, but pictures of bloggers in the snow wearing heels, or worse, wedge heels, are driving me bonkers. For me personally, if I have the opportunity to wear heels, then it means I have the opportunity to wear non-jeans, which I always grab.

ElleH

Veteran

I like it on the models you posted Denise. Emanuelle Alt's shoes look higher than 3". Perhaps only 3 1/2" but they don't look like 2 1/2" heels to me. I don't think it is trashy. It just needs to look right, not seasonally confused.

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